


Always

by anothermiracle



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Karezi, Karkat/Dave Bromance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-23
Updated: 2013-09-23
Packaged: 2017-12-27 10:40:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/977802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anothermiracle/pseuds/anothermiracle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your hand doesn't move quickly enough and you watch the club fall. </p><p>Karkat curses his inability to do things right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always

Your hand doesn’t move fast enough when you see the club go down.

The iron grip he has on his weapon loosens as it lands on the side of her head. She barely had time to lift her head to witness it coming – it hit her. Hard.

She lands deftly on her side, her thinkpan smashing against the gravel and bits of torn skin mixed with teal follow her wake. You’re frozen as you realize she isn’t getting up anytime soon. 

Then you see red.

You don’t remember much – just flashes of a crooked, sardonic grin, ruined teeth, torn knuckles and a loud ‘thump’ as he falls. Your hand hurts, but you’re too distracted by the heat pressing against the back of your eyelids. Immediately, you turn to her. 

She doesn’t wake when you shake her. You’re panicking now; incomplete prayers spill out of your mouth, her name a desperate whisper on your lips. Your movements grow more violent, sharper, and then you hear her groan. 

Halting your hands, you gently gather her frame into your arms, cradling her head, from which blood was trickling down from. Leaning close, your hand comes up to cup her cheek, directing her now-seeing eyes up at you.

“Terezi,” you call.

She blinks wearily up at you, before wincing. Her hand travels up to her head to prod at the wound, but you catch her before she touches it. Her eyebrows furrow. The confusion in her eyes grows, and your breathing becomes more sporadic.

“Who are you?” she asks.

And your whole world crashes.

===========================

Kanaya says that Terezi’s brain had undergone some damage, resulting in memory loss. She goes on to explain how and why, but honestly you really don’t give a fuck because the girl you love can’t fucking remember you.

You suppose you’re being the immature shit you had been three years ago by locking yourself in your respiteblock and refusing visits from anyone. It’s stupid, you know, but you need time to think. The very act of processing what had happened, along with attempting to quell your rage at your ex-moirail, AND nursing the heartbreak you had felt at Terezi’s blank stare, has taken such a toll on you, you don’t have any energy left to deal with anyone. 

Kicking your foot against the dry wall once more, you bemoan your existence for the umpteenth time.

“Knock knock.”

A swish and a few footsteps later, Dave Strider is in your room.

You prepare to hurl any insults your brain can conjure up, but he raises his hand before you can even start.

“Look, Karkat. Okay, wait. Before I begin, you’d probably wanna know how I got into your block. Your passcode’s your birthdate – it ain’t that hard to figure out. Kudos for the attempt though.”

You glare at him incredulously.

“Right. See, your problem here is that you don’t deal with your problems. You just run off and hide and hope that everything will be fine and dandy when you finally crawl out of your little hole. Well, hate to break it to you, lover boy, but shit’s happened, and will keep happening whether you come out or not.”

You want to throw something at him.

“Strider, if you’re done pointing out my flaws, I’d like to kindly ask you to GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM.”

He startles a little there, you notice with sick pleasure.

“Look, I’ll get out of your face, if you can convince me that you actually do care for that girl lying on the bed three rooms from here. I won’t let you attempt to delude yourself into thinking you don’t give a shit about her. You tried it once, when she was with me, and it’s not going to happen again.”

He grabs your shoulder. You’re too numb to shake it off.

“Karkat, Terezi needs you now more than ever. If you’re going to abandon her and drown yourself in self-hate and all the bullshit, then you’ve got another thing coming. You’ve got to be the one that saves her now. You’re the leader, remember?”

Your eyes shoot up to his, and he gives you a small, sad smirk. Sighing, you run a hand through your hair, tears prickling the corners of your eyes. Strong arms make their way around you in a tight comforting hug. 

“…Thanks, Strider.” 

“What are bros for?” He quips, his voice betraying the boy behind the shades.

=============================================

It takes about another 24 hours or so for you to gather your courage and walk to the room three doors down.

What you see makes you want to run back to your room again.

She’s lying on the bed, eyes closed. Her breathing is slow, albeit uneven, and the most prominent difference from when you’d seen her last was the lack of blood streaming down the side of her face. Instead, white bandages replace the heinous wound, mocking you of your inability to fix her. 

You approach the bed as quietly as you can, but her ears perk up when your foot brushes a stray scalemate on the floor. She swerves her head in your direction, and stares. You wait for the softening of her eyes, the upward twitch of her lips, her hand reaching out to you…

Nothing.

Ignoring the dull ache in your chest, you sit yourself down next to the bed. She tries to sit up, but you admonish her not to. She complies. Your eyes stay on her a while longer before they shift to the glaring white of the bedsheets.

“…How are you feeling?”

She squirms a little under the bed sheets – unfamiliar with your presence, no doubt – and answers.

“Better, I guess. The pain’s gone down. I’d say it wasn’t anything serious, but considering I have no idea who you are, I’d take that my condition is a lot worse than what it seems.”

“…Yea, no shit.”

She giggles then, and you look up to catch the smile you haven’t seen in months. You smirk back a little. 

“So who are you?” she asks. “Kanaya told me that you’re someone I’ve known for quite a while now, which is really odd. I mean, I remember the game, the humans, my lusus, everything. Well except for you, and apparently the reason I’m in this mess in the first place..? Gamzee..?”

Wow. Ouch.

You stand up, and begin to walk off. Your heart feels oddly detached from your body, yet each pulse sends a new wave of pain through you. 

“W-wait, where’re you going?”

You pause mid-step. 

“...See, everything’s been really confusing these past few days. There are gaps in my memories, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to fill them. I was… hoping you’d come… I thought you could help me with that… Kanaya told me you would.”

The fear and uncertainty in her voice slices through your existence, cutting it thoroughly with self-abhorrence. 

_“…you’ve got to be the one that saves her now. You’re the leader, remember?”_

You turn around and return to her bedside.

She smiles.

============================================

It’s taking a while, but you realize you’re glad you hadn’t started anything concrete with Terezi prior the incident.

That’s how you’re referring to it now; “The Incident.”

Kanaya had said that it will be best that you take Terezi through the events that have passed, and bring her to places that she’s been before. Hopefully, something will trigger her mind to retrieve information about you. Hopefully.

She had also suggested that Terezi was blocking out bad memories, and selecting only to remember the better parts of her life. You try not to dwell too long on the implications of her forgetting you. 

You hadn’t been surprised when she had come up to you asking where Nepeta was, and when she could roleplay with her. 

Telling Terezi of her friends’ demise was one of the most difficult things you had gone through in your life of 7 sweeps. Seeing her face crumple in despair would probably have been much better than the way she had held back her tears and had put on a brave front. She had gripped your hand tightly then, as you recalled what had happened before meeting the humans. When you had finished, your hand felt terribly numb, not unlike your heart. You had gathered her in your arms as she stared blankly in front of her, tears slowly making their way down her cheeks.

Your relationship with her had changed drastically after.

She is seldom seen without you now. You continue to guide her through past events – digging up ancient chat logs, bringing her around the meteor, getting her to talk to your other peers. You remember the smirk on her face and the inevitable heat coating your cheeks when she had read a certain pesterlog between you and her. She had laughed after, a mischievous glint in her eye. 

That had been a good day.

Her laughter rings through your ears as she sets down another can on the floor. She’s constructing another building for Can Town with the Mayor and Strider, and this time, you’re contented with watching her. Maybe it’s the little glances she sends your way, maybe it’s the knowing smirks Strider gives you, maybe it’s just the sheer fact that Terezi is smiling and enjoying herself to the fullest. 

It’s strange, considering all that has happened, but you’re happy. And it scares you.

What if she remembers? The asshole you had been to her, the horrible thing you’d said, the things you didn’t do, what if she recalls everything? Would she let you stay by her side? Would she push you away?

“Karkat!”

You look into her eyes, which are filled with wonder and excitement. Would they shine with betrayal when she finally regains her memories? 

You shake your head. Only time will tell. 

So you smirk and take her hand, leading her back to the present where the past can’t hurt either of you.

============================================================

You hear them before you see them.

_“Hey, if it isn’t my motherfucking sis. Haven’t seen you in a while, eh? Karbro treating you right? Cuz I’ll be remembering he got his motherfucking anger on when he last saw me. Seems like he can’t risk having his pretty lil’ miss messed with.”_

_“Don’t touch me.”_

You round the corner with hastened speed and arrive to the scene of your ex-moirail backing Terezi into the wall. She’s looking at him with defensive eyes, her nose upturned in pride. The shake in her fists, though, betray her fear, and you know he revels in it. His laughter is biting, coming out in hacks, and it absolutely disgusts you. 

Snarling, you pull her behind you in a protective stance, not missing the shocked squeak that escapes her lips. You glare up at him.

“Move along, Makara.”

He stumbles a few steps back, his posture ever-relaxed. He smiles.

“Well, if it isn’t Karbro, here to play hero to his lil’ miss. Ain’t that great, Pyrope? You got your little boyfriend fighting your battles for you.”

Terezi grips the cloth on your back and leans forward. Her head peeks over your shoulder. The words that flow from her mouth next cause you to freeze.

“Go away, Gamzee. I don’t want to deal with you and your ‘motherfucking miracles.’ I’m not buying your fucked up religion, and I sure as hell am not going to be your kismesis anymore. Consider this relationship over.”

_Terezi, she-_

He chortles garishly, his mouth opening wide with mirth. Both of you jump at the volume of his laugh, immediately putting you both into a defensive stance. Just as suddenly, he stops.

“Are you motherfucking serious, Pyrope? Pfft. If I had known you’d back out from a small scratch, I’d have used more forc-“

The front of his shirt is crumpled in your fist before he can finish his sentence. You pull his face close to yours, making sure he can feel the waves of fury rolling off your skin. Your scythe uncaptchalougues into your free hand.

“Say one more word, _motherfucker,_ and those three scratches won’t be the only things marring your ugly face.”

His grin turns feral, and he pushes you off of him. You stumble back, but recover instantaneously in anticipation for his next move. He narrows his eyes at you, and to your surprise and relief, moves to retreat in the direction you came from. Your shoulders sag and you captchalouge your scythe once more. 

You turn around to ask Terezi if she’s alright, but pause in your movements. 

_You’re missing something important, Vantas._

Your eyes flick up to hers immediately. She grins at you with sharp teeth and squinted eyes, and your blood surges with hope. Her hands go up to cup both sides of your face before she leans close. Her nose dips into the crevice between your ear and neck, and she inhales.

“Ever the Knight in cherry armor, aren’t you, Karkles? My, my, you’re smelling mighty delicious today.”

You close your eyes.

She continues trailing her nose up the side of your neck, and you feel goosebumps forming in her wake. Your mind is screaming at you to stop her because _she remembers, oh god, she remembers and she’s going to leav-_

Her arms entangle around your neck and she pushes her weight on you, causing your eyes to fly open and you to stumble back two steps. Your hands immediately go around her waist to catch her. 

“Ter-“

“I missed you.”

And just like that, the bubble of hope building in your chest bursts, sending blasts of warmth throughout your body. Your mind loses all its defenses and your arms cling onto her like a vice, your head hooking onto her shoulder. She laughs heartily, and you feel it seeping through your bones. Her hands go up to ruffle the hair on the back of your head, and you can’t help the grin playing at your mouth. You bury yourself in her, reveling in everything that is Terezi Pyrope. 

After a few moments, you pull back. It feels surreal having her in your arms like this. Her eyes shine with unshed happy tears and you know yours do too. Her face flushes teal when you stare at her for a moment too long, and she ducks her head shyly. You lean your forehead against hers.

“…How?”

She giggles at the wonderment in your voice.

“Well, you know how Kanaya said that it was best that you bring me through past events to see if any of them can serve as cues to trigger my memory? I guess one of the biggest cues was you spending time with me. It just made me realize that I actually did have feelings for you before and they’d stayed even after I lost my memory. So yea thanks Kar-“

Your lips fall on hers before she has the chance to finish. It’s too much. You’re overwhelmed and it’s too much. Fuckers like you don’t get to hear words like that. Fuckers like you don’t deserve to feel this way. And yet here she is, in all her imperfect glory, saying these things that make you so damn… happy. So you kiss her, the only way you know how to express this. Because she’s wonderful, and she remembers and most of all, she feels the same way about you. 

It’s amazing, really.

You trip your mouth over hers a few more times, before resuming your hold on her. You can hear her racing heartbeat, her shortened breaths. She leans her head down on your shoulder and her fingers dig into your back. She whispers a small “thank you.” 

“Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr: another-miracle.tumblr.com
> 
> I post Karezi drabbles periodically.


End file.
